Eclipse of the Stars
by GinaDarling
Summary: It’s been a year since Izzy left Narnia, and she's been feeling torn apart and, at times, more than a little self-destructive. But rain brings mud and a little something more. Sequel to Of Dreams and Stardust. Caspian/Izzy ON HIATUS
1. Chapter One

**I'm baaaaaaackkkk. And with a whole new back of tricks up my sleeve! This one's pretty open-ended right now so I'm still hammering out the details, but since I have the first chapter all written anyway I figured I might as well post 'er up! So now, without further ado, I give you chapter one of Eclipse of the Stars!**

**Full Summary:** _It's been a year since Izzy left Narnia, and this summer Dana and Jo are visiting to try and help alleviate her feelings of being torn apart and, at times, more than a little self-destructive. But the night of their arrival it's pouring rain and, staying true to the usual cliché, the precipitation brings more than just a little mud._

**I'm unsure about this one. I hope you like it! I don't want to disappoint. xD**

Chapter One: Pretty as a Car Crash

One year. Twelve months. Fifty-two weeks. Three hundred and sixty five and one-quarter days. Eight thousand seven hundred and sixty-six hours. Five hundred and twenty-five thousand, nine hundred and forty-nine minutes. Thirty-one million, five hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and twenty-six seconds. All of them agonizing.

Ducking down to look through the top of the windshield, I could see the London airport rising in front of the dark clouds rolling in. I was on my way to pick up a little piece of my home. Well, a little piece of my other home. Actually, if you wanted to get real specific, I'd have to say my other, _other_ home. Perhaps I should explain.

One year and three days ago, I fell through my closet door and into an amazing world that I never knew existed. You probably think I'm crazy, right? Well, I'm not. At least, not all the time. I _know_ that Narnia is real and I _know_ that I was there. No amount of therapy or psychoanalysis is about to change my mind. I have to believe it was real. If I can't, my heart will shatter into a million pieces, because if Narnia isn't real that means the one person I ever really, truly, undeniably loved isn't real either. I had to leave him behind, and come back to my own world, and since then I've never felt the same.

I know, I know, everyone suffers heartbreak every once in a while, but this was something more. We share a much stronger bond than some teenage puppy love relationship. He is my _Compositus Animus_, my Matching Soul. The connection we have, which can only be achieved in Narnia, because it's got some weird complicated magic to it and magic doesn't exist in our world, is called _Animus Vinculum_, or Soul Bond. A centaur named Haybra told me that it is the rarest bond two people can have, in which two separate souls are so compatible that they merge together completely.

And so, when I left, it was like ripping one soul in half and not only sending the two pieces in opposite directions, but also putting them in two entirely different worlds. Doesn't that sound terrible? That's because it is.

As soon as I arrived back in the darkness of my closet where almost _no_ time had passed while I was in Narnia, I knew something was wrong. I don't think I really believed what the centaur said until that moment, but there was really no other way to explain why I felt like something was just _missing_.

I won't say that I felt empty, because that's far too generic and cliché. Though, I probably would've preferred feeling empty because when you're empty there's nothing to feel, and what I felt was agonizing. Anyway, I felt more like a glass that was _half _empty (or half full, whichever you prefer- I personally prefer empty). The pain of missing half of your soul is almost unbearable at first, but once whatever half is left has filled the void with a rough outline of what used to be there, it lessens to a dull ache.

Now, it's pretty annoying to have to carry that around with you all the time. It's a constant reminder. Even when you try not to think about it, it's still there. Plus, it was a little foreign. I guess when two souls merge together they mix up, so when it's split there's no telling which pieces were going to who. It was a little comforting, knowing I was carrying little pieces of him around with me, but only a tiny bit. But I made do, did my best to enjoy things, went to school, learned things, ate, slept. The usual. All the while I was wondering when and if I would be going back.

I think the biggest clue that I took some of him home was my increased interest in history. Suddenly, it was my favorite class. I also took up an interest in astrology. When I started at Montclair State University in the fall (back in New Jersey so I could go to school with my best friend, Dana), I'd be majoring in military history and my minor was going to be English literature (in honor of my hero, William Shakespeare), but I also signed up for an astronomy class. Unfortunately, they didn't have a fencing team _or_ club. That was another thing I'd taken up when I came back. Out of nowhere, I really wanted to be able to handle a sword. Maybe I wanted the exorcise. Maybe I wanted him to be proud of me.

_Him_. My stranger. My prince. My Caspian.

I pulled up to the front of the airport in my dad's old, beat up pickup truck with the steering wheel on the wrong side (for England, which was where I was currently residing). Leaving the truck to idle in the drop off/pickup lane, I jumped out (almost getting run over by a taxi) and ran around the hood to embrace my little piece of home- both of them at the same time. My best friends in (this) entire world, Dana and Jo, had spent their well-earned money on plane tickets just so they could come and spend the summer with me. Amazingly, the ache in my chest was overpowered with happiness when I saw them. I knew that if anyone could make me feel better, it would be them. The only other person who could was kind of in a different world, so, there you go.

"Izzy!" they cried in unison as we broke apart.

"Jona!" I yelled in reply, putting their names together. We laughed, and I helped them pile their stuff into the bed of the truck. I pulled the canvas top over their bags and hooked it in place. "I'm so glad you guys are here. I've been feeling kind of Lex-y lately." Lex was the alternate version of myself, the terrible person I become whenever I sink back into my sociopathic tendencies. Before I'd gone to Narnia, they had no idea about my history with the psychiatric system. I was always afraid that they wouldn't love me anymore. I learned a lot about love in Narnia. The first thing I did when I got back was tell them everything via a very tearful three-way phone call.

"Well, we'll just have to kick her ass," Jo said as she slid into the cabin after Dana, who was squished between us in the middle seat. That's the down side of pickup trucks, there's only one seat in the cabin.

"Yeah, yeah." As I pulled away from the curb, I looked up at the clouds again nervously. "Tut tut, looks like rain!"

"Let's hope this hunk 'a junk can handle it," Dana said.

"Six, six, six," was all I said in response. They both laughed, and Jo reached over to turn on the radio. "You're not going to find much. Put a CD in. The case is on the floor." She followed my directions, flipping through the book until she found one that caught her interest and slid it into the player. I groaned. "You've got to be joking."

"Nope!" Jo replied. "I haven't heard this album in a long time."

"It's Good Charlotte," I muttered.

"I like it sometimes!"

"It's Good Charlotte."

"Why do you even have it if you hate it that much?"

"I don't hate it," I replied. "It's my guilty pleasure. I try not to advertise it by playing it in my car." I pulled out of the airport zone and started weaving my way through the twisting streets.

"So roll the windows up!"

"We probably should anyway," Dana said. "It's starting to drizzle." We rolled the windows up, which was quite an experience since we had to do it manually and I was so not taking my hands off the wheel so Dana had to reach across my lap to roll mine up.

"How far away is your place?" Jo asked.

"About two hours," I replied. "Most of which is traveled on dirt roads. I live in the boondocks."

"I want to see John Lennon's grave," Dana said.

"We'll get around to it, but it's already coming down pretty hard and it's almost six. It'll be getting dark soon."

As the drive wore on, we settled into our habit of alternating between conversation and obnoxiously loud karaoke along with the radio. The CD was switched over and over again, so by the time we turned onto the last long stretch of deserted country road the speakers were blasting Superchick.

"Are we there yet?" Jo whined just to be annoying.

"We have like, a half hour drive left," I replied, unfazed.

"Boo. I have to pee and the friggin' rain is making it worse!"

It hadn't stopped pouring the entire drive. I was afraid my poor windshield wipers would snap off and go spinning into the darkness, they were moving so fast. "I have to pee too, but unless you want to go pick a tree in this rain, you're going to have to wait a half an hour."

"Is there even anything to do within a twenty mile radius of your house?" Dana asked.

"We have a pond. My dad had it dredged so it's good for swimming. He even built a dock."

"Sweet. Too bad I didn't bring my bathing suit."

"Neither did I," added Jo.

"You guys are totally useless, you know that?" I asked. I looked over to raise my eyebrows at them. "We can always just go skinny dipping."

"Izzy!" Dana yelled.

"I was just kidding!"

"No! Look!" She grabbed my head and turned it so I was looking through the windshield, and I saw what she was yelling about. A figure, obviously a person, was standing in the middle of the road a few yards ahead.

"Shit!" I screamed, slamming on the brakes. Unfortunately, the road was muddy, so even when the wheels stopped turning the truck kept skidding. My reaction was too late, and all I could do was watch in horror as the front of my truck careened into the person and they disappeared from view. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. I just hit someone with my truck. Oh my God."

"Izzy, breathe!" Jo ordered. I did as I was told, taking several deep breaths.

"I'm going to go see if they're okay," I said after a tense moment.

"Good idea!" Dana said. "Go check on the shadowy figure on this deserted country road surrounded by trees in the nighttime and the rain. When you're done, we'll knock on a crazy stranger's door and ask him to kill us with his cork screw!"

I stared at her for a second. "What the hell are you talking about? I just hit the guy, I can't just leave 'em there!"

"Okay, let's go then," Jo said. "We all better go, just in case it _is_ a homicidal maniac."

I rolled my eyes at my friends' dramatics and unhooked my belt, then threw the driver's side door open. Jumping out into the mud, I had to squint to see through the rain. I slammed the door closed as they other girls slipped out of the other door, and started to the front of my truck. "Oh, shit," I mumbled when I realized I'd hit the person hard enough to send them sprawling outside the illumination of my headlights. I splashed over to the motionless body and fell to my knees, leaning down to pull them into a sitting position. The stranger responded to my touch and put effort into sitting up, signaling that they were still conscious. "Are you all right? Does it hurt anywhere? Is anything broken?" I asked urgently, yelling over the sound of Dana and Jo sloshing over to us.

"I don't think so," a man's voice replied.

"Are you sure? I hit you pretty hard. I'm so sorry about that. I didn't expect anyone to be on this road so I got careless."

"Yes. I am only a little…confused." His voice was muffled by the rain. I stood up, pulling him with me as I did.

"Let's get you into the light so we can make sure you don't have a concussion," I said. He didn't reply, only leaned heavily against me. The strange material of the shirt he was wearing rubbed against my side uncomfortably, but I guess that's a small price to pay since I hit him with my truck and all. When we got him in front of the light, Jo and Dana helped me lower him to the ground so we could check his pupils for dilation. The sudden light caused him to flinch and put a hand up to block it from his eyes, but even in the shadow I could make out his features. Features I recognized. Dark exotic eyes and burnt caramel skin.

No way.

No _fucking_ way.

I could only stare while Jo and Dana both dropped down to inspect him for any wounds. There was no way this person could be here. It was simply not possible. I must be getting even crazier than usual and casting images onto strangers. And yet, suddenly the ache in my chest wasn't there anymore. For the first time in over a year I felt complete. I had to see his face in the light. I had to know for sure.

I unceremoniously shoved Jo and Dana out of the way. Ignoring their complaints, I took the man's face in my hands and angled it towards the light. He squinted, but even so my heart stopped, because that face unmistakably belonged to-

"Caspian!?" I shrieked, hurting even my own ears. My heart started again, going three times the normal speed.

He flinched. "You know me?"

"Of course I know y-" I stopped myself, realizing that I was bent over him in such a way that the light didn't hit my face. I dropped to my knees in front of him, ignoring the way the sudden illumination burned my eyes.

His jaw dropped, and he reached out a hand to push my sopping wet hair back from my face. "I can't believe it," he said softly. "Isabella?"

"Caspian!" I repeated, my voice portraying a million different emotions at once. I was suddenly sobbing, my tears mixing with the rain on my cheeks. Caspian could tell at once, and he instantly pulled me against him. I didn't know how to react. My body started moving on it's own, my arms wrapping around his neck and clutching at his dripping wet hair. I just kept saying his name over and over again until I no longer had enough breath to. He leaned back so he could look at me and traced my features with his fingertips and then pressed his face into my neck, mumbling my name the same way I had done with his.

"Um, what the hell is going on?" Jo's voice interrupted our reunion. I jerked away from Caspian, surprised. I'd completely forgotten they were there. They were both on their knees next to us, looking incredibly confused.

"These are your friends," Caspian stated.

"Yes, but uh, I don't think here is a good place for introductions," I replied. "Can you stand? Oh my God I can't believe I hit you with my truck."

"You are here. I can do anything now." I stood up first, then along with Jo and Dana pulled him to his feet.

"Is he wearing _chain mail?_" Dana scoffed.

"Um, yes," I replied.

With an extra person, the cabin of my truck was even more cramped and uncomfortable, and with the added conditions of being soaking wet and covered in mud, my best friends were not pleased (especially because Dana had to sit on Jo's lap with Caspian between us). I had a lot of explaining to do when we got to the house.

The urge to touch Caspian was unbearable. I wanted to hold onto him, make sure he was real. He seemed to feel the same way, keeping his arm around me and playing with my hair while he stared in wonder at the lights on the radio. I tried to focus on the road, but kept looking at him out of the corner of my eye just to check, make sure he was still there.

"Is that a sword?" Jo asked, pointing across Caspian's lap.

"Yes. It is Rhindon, the sword of High King Peter that he passed on to me on his departure," he replied. I inwardly groaned. Maybe I shouldn't let him answer any more questions.

"Riiiight," Jo said. "High King Peter…"

"Um, Caspian?" I spoke up.

"Isabella," he said to signify I had his attention.

"Maybe you shouldn't…answer…any more questions, kay?" I advised.

"If you think that is best…" He didn't understand why. Once again, he was distracted by the radio, and he started asking questions about it and the truck, which Dana kindly answered in a sweet voice. Great, she thinks he has Down's Syndrome or something. I tried to concentrate on the road rather than what was going on. I swallowed every question I had for him, deciding to save it for later- after hot food and hot showers and dry clothes. I thought of the spaghetti and meatballs my mom was making in honor of our guests' arrival. Apparently we had one more guest than we planned… Oh, shit. How was I going to explain Caspian to my parents?

"What's wrong, _querida_?" Caspian's voice interrupted my contemplation.

"Huh?" I replied.

"What's wrong?" he repeated.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"You're chewing on the inside of your cheek. You only do that when you're lying." Stupid soul-sharer.

I groaned. "I'm trying to figure out how to explain your existence to my parents. Oh, and my friends for that matter. Oh God I'm going to be committed again." I hit my head against the steering wheel, causing us to swerve momentarily.

"Izzy calm down!" Dana yelled. I took a deep breath, focusing back on the road, keeping my eye on the left-hand side, looking for the turn into my ridiculously long driveway.

"Sorry, guys," I said. "I'm just freaking out right now because Caspian's here which makes me incredibly happy but incredibly freaked because it should be impossible for him to be here and you guys are here and my parents are going to flip because there is no way I can possibly explain how I met him without going right back to the mental institution." I breathed heavily after I finished.

"So…don't…tell them?" Jo suggested.

"What should I tell them, then? I obviously can't tell them the truth!"

"That actually isn't obvious because we don't know the truth yet, but if that's how you feel then…tell them he's my cousin," she offered.

"From where? Mexico? Which side of the family would that be, your English dad or your Australian mom? He's like, seven shades darker than you." Caspian looked at his hand when I said this and shrugged.

"Oh, that _is _a problem…"

"Why don't you just tell them he's your boyfriend from New Jersey?" Dana suggested.

"That would work…if my dad wasn't in the military!" I replied. Visions of my father pulling an AK47 on Caspian filled my mind. I shuddered.

"You're eighteen. What's your dad gonna do? It's not like he'll be sleeping in your bed or anything."

I spotted the turn into my driveway and took it harder than I needed to in my agitation. "Fine. But if he pulls out a gun you get to be the shield."


	2. Chapter Two

**Okay, chapter two! I quite enjoyed writing this one. I was actually laughing at myself through a lot of it, but knowing me I think I'm a lot funnier than I actually am. I hope you like it anyway. :)**

**Before we take off, gotta give my shout outs to my amazing reviewers! Thanks to Sky-Pirate325, britishbabe21, Dean's Leather Jacket, ReinetteNarbonne, chnoelle, taxibby, ilivealie, LittleSquirt1, breebree33, Well-Yeah-There's-That, Enyara, and my ever-loving best friend Haylee. Your support does wonders for the morale! Love you all. Now, on with the show!**

Chapter Two: Little White Lies

Okay, so, my life was turning into something out of a fantasy novel. Well, I guess it kind of already turned into something out of a fantasy novel when I fell through my closet door into a world full of talking animals and centaurs, but I didn't know thatpeople in _that _world could fall into _mine_. Not that I wasn't giddy as a schoolgirl that Caspian was sitting next to me in my truck- I could hardly contain myself! It was just that there was a lot of explaining I was going to have to do and a good chance it would get me sent back to the mental institution, which was a place I definitely never wanted to see again. It also meant that I'd have to come up with some elaborate lie to tell my parents because of that chance. Dana and Jo were a lot more likely to believe our story than my 'rents.

Then there was all the explaining I was going to have to do for Caspian. I mean, falling into his world was one thing. Narnia was a lot simpler than my world. Yeah, sure, talking animals and mythical creatures will freak you out for a second, but there are technologies beyond anything he's ever seen here. And, knowing my Caspian, he's incredibly curious. He'll be asking a lot of questions that I probably won't even know the answer to.

Great. Just great.

The porch light was on when I pulled the truck up to the house. I parked it under the car tent next to my mom's blue Subaru Forester. I flung the door open and jumped down, whirling around to embrace Caspian the second he'd stepped out of the cabin. There was no reason why I couldn't postpone the inevitable for a few extra moments. He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I nuzzled my nose against his neck and he cupped the back of my head and pressed his face into my still wet hair. I wanted to cry again. After all the months of incompleteness I finally felt whole again. It was like I'd never even been apart from him at all. My heart was practically writhing with joy. My body was so starved for his touch I was trembling. He seemed to understand, holding me even tighter.

"Uh, I hate to break up this beautiful moment, but it's still raining and I still have to pee," Jo's voice cut through my clouded thoughts.

"And I'm hungry," Dana added as I looked over my shoulder at them. They were standing next to us, their bags already in hand.

"Oh, yeah, right," I said, stepping back. "Let's go."

"Wait." Jo held up a hand and pointed at Caspian. "I don't think you want to introduce him to your parents in _that_." I followed the direction of her finger and saw what she was talking about.

"Sugar. You're right." I gave the confused king an apologetic look. "You're going to have to leave the sword and stuff in the car."

Caspian's hand went to the hilt of his blade. "What? No!"

I sighed. "Caspian, no one is going to attack you in my house. At least, no one you can fight with a sword." I mumbled the last sentence, thinking again of my father and his AK-47. Ignoring his doubtful expression, I started unfastening the belt his sword hung from myself. "Trust me. You're not in Narnia anymore. This is my turf. I promise you won't be attacked by any wayward Miraz-supporting Telmarines, kay?"

Caspian hesitated, then nodded and finished removing his belt and chain mail himself, placing them carefully in the driver's seat of the truck. "But, Peter's sword-" he started, looking concerned.

"Don't worry, I'll lock it," I said while shutting the door and doing just that. "Not that there's anybody around to steal it anyway. Even if there were I doubt they'd go for the rusty old pickup first." He still seemed unsure, so I took his hand and laced my fingers through his. "Come on, it'll be okay. Promise." I felt like a first grade teacher trying to convince a kid that the swing set was perfectly safe. It seemed to work. Caspian smiled and nodded.

"All right," he said. "I trust you."

I led them at a sprint through the still-pouring rain until we were safe under the porch roof. I dug my keys out of my pocket and quietly opened the door, hoping the dining room doors were closed so we could sneak past before my parents saw the muddy mess we were…oh yeah, and my royal Narnian soul mate. I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to explain that one yet. No such luck, however. The double doors leading into the dining room were both wide open when we slipped silently inside and shut the door behind us. I decided to try a mad dash to the stairs and hope they didn't stop us.

"Hi, bye, start without us!" I called out as I sprinted past the dining room, dragging Caspian behind me with my best friends at our heels.

We were halfway up the stairs when my dad said, "Freeze!" in his most I-am-the-dad-so-you-better-listen-to-me voice. So, I listened to him, stopping mid-step and dropping my foot to the carpet. Bracing myself, I slowly swiveled around to face my parents. They were both standing in the doorway, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"You're twenty minutes late and you didn't call," Mom said, her expression amused as she looked us over. "What in the hell happened to _you_?" That's Mom for you, short and to the point.

"We, um, got into a little accident," Dana offered. "Iz kinda hit something with the truck, but everything's good!"

"There's only supposed to be three of you," Dad noted. "Who's the extra?" His eyes moved from Caspian's mud-covered form to our entwined fingers and I let go and immediately tried my best to position myself between them in case Dad decided he really did want to pull out a .44mm or something.

"He's um…the something…that I hit…with the truck…" I answered.

"You hit a person!?" my mother exclaimed, suddenly turning all Super Mom. Seriously. She was up the stairs faster than the Flash. "Are you all right, dear? Where does it hurt? Oh, Lyle, go and get the First Aid kit!"

"Mom, he's fine!" I assured her, smacking away her hands as she lifted Caspian's arm and bent it, asking if it felt okay. "Seriously! He's been through worse."

She stopped, raising her eyebrows. "He's just a boy!" All right, Trufflehunter, chill out. Something else seemed to dawn on her. "And how would you know, anyway, young lady?"

"Oh dear God." I rubbed my eyes and sighed. "Mom, this isn't some random stranger, okay? He's…uh…my…boyfriend. From New Jersey. Yeah."

My mom's expression changed from suspicion to absolute delight. She had some strange theories about me being a lesbian because I never had any real boyfriends. It wasn't that she had anything against homosexuality or anything, she just didn't like me to keep things from her and so repeatedly asked me "Are you a homosexual?" whenever she asked me about my love life and I told her it was nonexistent. "Oh!" she cried. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend! Lyle, did you know she had a boyfriend?"

"News to me," Dad grumbled. He wasn't glaring at Caspian or anything, he was actually looking kind of anxious which told me he was just hungry and wanted to eat. Cool.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Mom continued to dote. "It's so great to meet you! I'm Izzy's mother." She was suddenly doing that really Italian side-kiss-cheek-hug thing to him. Caspian looked startled but amused, and I was totally embarrassed.

"Mom…" I groaned.

"You know, Izzy's never brought a boy home before now, she must really like you!" she continued. Dana and Jo seemed to be getting a real kick out of my suffering. "She's never even had a boyfriend before, have you darling?" I opened my mouth to interject, but apparently the question was rhetorical because she just kept talking. "No, no, no, you haven't. You know, for a while there I was a little concerned that she might be a closet le-"

"MOM THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled, waving my hands. "No more talk of such things! In the past! Gone! This is now! Seriously." Jo was doubled over laughing. "Shut up!"

"Sorry," she snorted.

"No you're not," I mumbled.

Mom just looked at me like she had no idea why I was freaking out, then she laughed when she finally understood. "Right. I'm embarrassing you, aren't I?" She smirked. "Lyle, why don't you go and get that one photo album. You know, the one with all the pictures from when Izzy was-"

"You can't be serious!" Why was my life a seriously bad indie movie? Why? It's worse than _I Heart Huckabees_ and I couldn't even watch that whole film.

My mom laughed. "Of course I'm not serious." She turned back to Caspian. "Anyway, I didn't catch your name, dear." Oh crap.

Caspian smiled. "I am King-"

"CASPIAN!" I interrupted. "Uh, Caspian King. King's his last name. Yup. He likes to do that James Bond thing. I told him it's weird." Caspian raised his eyebrow at me. I stepped on his foot.

"Right! Right. Haha. Caspian King. That's me!" He smiled a little too brightly.

"Caspian? That's an exotic name. I detect a hint of an accent as well. Where are you from?"

"N-"

"-icaragua," I interrupted again. "Nicaragua."

"Yes," Caspian agreed, looking like he'd just taken a drink expecting milk and got orange juice.

"Isabella, why won't you let the boy speak for himself?" Mom asked, slightly annoyed.

"He's…um…long-winded! And I want a shower so if you wouldn't mind I think we'd all appreciate it if you'd let him off the hook until we resemble humans again?" I replied.

"You're going to shower?" Dad suddenly decided he needed to enter back into the conversation.

"Separate showers, Dad, what kinda girl do you think I am?" I chided, lightening the mood only slightly. Caspian looked down at his shoes, automatically embarrassed by the thought. Did I mention that Narnia is stuck in, like, the 1400's? Yeah. Abstinence-only education where he's from.

"I…knew that." Dad seemed pretty uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. "But we're eating without you, then!"

"Whatever, let's go!" I grabbed Caspian's hand again and dragged him the rest of the way up the stairs and a little ways down the hall before my mother could say something else ridiculously embarrassing. Jo and Dana followed close behind as I threw open my bedroom door and stormed inside, collapsing on the hard wood flooring. "I. Hate. My. Life."

Dana and Jo immediately started cracking up, quoting the parts of my mortifying experience that they found the most amusing. Caspian sat on the floor beside me and watched them warily, not knowing that this is just something we do- make fun of each other nonstop until someone is smothered to death with a pillow.

"All right, here's the plan," I said when they'd finally calmed down. "My dad rigged up the bathroom across the hall when he found out you guys were coming so one of you can use that one," I addressed my two friends. "Then there's another shower downstairs in the bathroom off of the living room so the other one can use that."

"NOSES ON THE UPSTAIRS BATHROOM!" Jo yelled before Dana could even open her mouth, touching the tip of her nose with her finger. Dana pouted. Caspian flinched.

I stared. "Right. Anyway, Caspian you can use my shower." I pointed to my bathroom door, which was open revealing the old-fashioned bathtub with lion-paw legs within. "And I'll use my parents'. Kay?" Everyone nodded. "All right. Towels." I got up, motioning for them to follow, and walked over to my closet and walked in, flipping the light on as I went. "Funny story about this closet. Has to do with where he's from." I motioned to Caspian, who looked surprised but said nothing. "I'll tell you later after we're clean and stuff." I grabbed three towels off of a shelf and handed one to each of them and we trekked back out into my room. "Okey-doke. You two aught to go get started. I need to, uh, teach Caspian how to use the shower."

Jo raised her eyebrows. "Riiiight. Teach him how to use the shower. We got it."

"Mind, out of gutter, now. Leave." I pointed to the door.

"Okayyy," Dana said as they left. "You two kids have fun now. Use protection!"

"DANA!"

"Going now! Love you! Teach him well!"

They disappeared down the hall and I groaned, rubbing my eyes. Those girls were going to be the death of me. When I looked at him again, Caspian was watching me with a small smile. "What?"

"Nothing," he replied. "I just…I am happy to be here. With you."

"I'm happy you're here too." I returned his smile. "But right now, you need clothes to change into and a crash course in modern…ish plumbing." I walked over to my dresser and knelt down to open the bottom drawer. "I think I have some of my brother's old clothes in here somewhere. I wore them when I was younger as sort of a, uh, fashion…crime. Anyway…" I dug out some baggy jeans and an old, faded Gorillaz band shirt. "This'll work for now. Wait…" I considered the rough texture of the denim and dug through another drawer until I found a pair of plaid boxer shorts. What? I like to wear them to bed. Sue me! "Okay." I turned around and displayed my spoils. "These," I held up the boxers, "go under the pants, kay? You'll thank me later."

"Right," Caspian said. I noted his bewildered expression and placed the clothes on top of my dresser before turning around.

"Look, I know you're probably pretty freaked right now. I totally get it. When I first got to Narnia I was, like, a hot mess. I can't imagine…" I trailed off, then shook my head. "You'll get used to it. Promise." I offered him a smile that he returned.

"I trust you," he stated again. The sincerity in those words made my heart swell. I didn't really know how to respond.

"Good," I replied. "Now, to the shower…" I led him into the bathroom and grabbed my towel off of the hook on the back of the door. "Okay, so this knob is for cold water and this knob is for hot water." I turned each one on and then off again as I spoke. He stared, wide-eyed, at the anomaly of running water. "I know. It's awesome. Save questions for later though, okay?" He nodded. "Now, turn them on until it's a temperature you like and then pull this to turn the shower nozzle on." I demonstrated quickly. "Then when you're done just go in reverse. Push this back down and turn the water off. Once you're all dry and dressed just wait in my room and I'll come and get you okay?" He nodded again. I took a deep breath. "Cool. This," I grabbed a bottle from a plastic shelf hung on the wall behind the curtain, "is called shampoo. It's for washing your hair. Just put a little in your hand and lather, rinse, and the bottle says repeat but you don't have to do that."

"You have separate soap for your hair?" Caspian asked incredulously.

"Yeah. We're picky in my world. Anyway, this," I picked up the conditioner bottle, then set it back down, "isn't important. Don't worry about it. Wash cloth!" I opened the bathroom cupboard to grab one for him so he wouldn't have to use my fluffy pink loofa- though the image made me giggle until I remembered he'd be naked and it made my body do something completely different. Ahem. Anyway. "Just lather the soap on this and use it to…uh…wash…yeah." Great, I was blushing. Caspian just looked amused that I was the one who was embarrassed this time. I guess it was only fair. I'd laughed at him last time the ball came into this court. "I usually use body wash from the bottle but there's a bar of soap in there too, kay?"

"Got it," he answered.

"Great," I sighed. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Caspian replied, smiling. "You need to calm down, _querida_. You are going to wear yourself out like this."

"Yeah, I know." I stared into his eyes, lost for a moment in that intense gaze I'd missed so much. Forcing myself to snap out of it, I said, "I'll be back in…" I picked up a clump of my hair to investigate the damage. "…twenty minutes."

"All right."

I smiled and kissed him on the cheek, not really caring that his face was covered in mud. "I really am happy that you're here."

"Not nearly as happy as I am to be here."

"Sure," I said sarcastically. "And minotaurs make good house pets."

"But they don't."

"Exactly. Bye!" I left the bathroom and closed the door behind me before he could figure out what I'd meant and argue with me- I knew he would. He's just like that. After scavenging up some clothes of my own to change into, I hustled down the hall to my parents' room and through it to their bathroom, anxious to scrub the mud out of my hair.

The hot water did wonders to ease my nerves. I let it pound against my forehead for a while before turning to let it cascade down my back, working out some of the easier kinks. Dana's mom used to always scold me for being so tense. She also used to give me some painful (but effective) back rubs while she scolded me. Anyway, I let the heat and steam calm me down for a little too long before I actually started washing, because the water started to turn cold halfway through. I scrubbed the dried mud off of my arms and legs as fast as possible as the water went from luke-warm to room temperature. It went cold while I was rinsing the conditioner out of my hair. I started hopping up and down and complaining loudly like it would make the water warmer or something. It didn't, of course. I shut the water off and practically dove out from behind the curtain, grabbing my towel and wrapping it around my shoulders until the shivers had subsided.

Note to self: four people taking a shower at the same time BAD.

Oh yeah, four people. Caspian. Crap. I got dressed as quickly as possible, realizing as I pulled on my black shorts with "Hottie" written on the butt and white wife-beater I could probably have made a better choice in ensembles, but oh well. It was that or waltz into my room to find different clothes in my towel and give Caspian a heart attack, so I figured I was choosing the lesser of two evils. When I walked out of the bathroom, towel in hand, Dana and Jo were waiting for me on my parents' bed.

"What were you yelling about?" Jo asked, amused.

"The hot water ran out and I blame you two," I snapped, marching past them and into the hallway. They laughed as they followed me back to my room. I knocked. On my own bedroom door. Cool.

"Um, yes?" Caspian responded uncertainly.

"It's me. Are you decent?"

I could hear him laugh. "Yes."

Caspian was sitting on the seat in front of my bay window when we walked in, but jumped to his feet right away. It had something to do with manners- standing up when a lady enters a room. I have no idea. I was a little distracted when I saw him standing there in jeans and a tee shirt, his damp hair hanging in his face. Knight in shining armor aspect aside, there was something about seeing him in modern clothing that was, well, absolutely delicious. And he was staring right back (probably because he wasn't used to seeing a woman showing her legs), which gave me a little extra boost of confidence. A girl can complain all she wants about guys ogling her but we all secretly like knowing that our efforts to look presentable are appreciated. Plus, it was Caspian, my beautiful Narnian King soul mate. That made it so much more exciting.

Suppressing the urge to giggle like a five-year-old (and the blush that threatened to bloom across my face as I recalled exactly what he looked like under that tee shirt), I smiled and walked further into the room. When I glanced back at Dana and Jo, I wasn't at all surprised to find them both shamelessly staring, as I had been moments before. It actually didn't even bother me that much besides a twinge of possessiveness. I was more proud than anything. Y'know, like, _Uh-huh, and he's all mine. _But the sociopath in me was still possessive, so I reacted accordingly by giving them each a hard punch in the arm. It worked, snapping them both out of it and moving their attention to my annoyed stare while they rubbed their arms.

"What was that for?" Dana whined. I just glared at her until she got it. "Oh, yeah, sorry for ogling your boyfriend or whatever." She looked past me to Caspian apologetically. "Couldn't help it."

"Yeah, I know," I said shortly. "Stop it!" She flinched and looked away while Jo laughed at her. I whirled back around, still ticked off, and got even more annoyed when I saw the amused little smirk and cocked eyebrow on Caspian's face. "What?" I could tell he was trying not to laugh. "What!" I marched over to give him a little shove and he started laughing so I pinched his arm.

"Ow!" he cried out between laughs, his hand moving to the area. "That was not very nice."

"You're not very nice," I shot back, not really making any sense.

"I disagree," Jo chimed in. "I think he is very, _very_ nice."

I swiveled around to glare at her, stomping my foot childishly. "You shut up! He was laughing at me...again!" I was surprised by a pair of strong arms snaking around my waist and Caspian's gentle chuckle in my ear as he pulled me back against his chest. His breath on my ear and the intimacy of the gesture immediately disarmed me. For a moment I could hardly remember what I was so mad about. How dare he use my ultimate weakness (himself) against me! Urgh. Not fair.

"_Querida_, I only laughed because you look so cute when you are jealous like that," he said. Doubly not fair.

"I wasn't jealous," I argued halfheartedly, even though I had been a little. "I was possessive. There's a difference."

"Either way it was adorable."

Jo faked a gag and Dana hit her on the arm while giving me a look that said "We are so talking about this later and I expect every dirty little detail." Great.

"Can we go eat now?" Jo asked, rubbing her arm again. "I'm starved."

I sighed, letting go of my annoyance even though I was tempted to hold onto it for a bit longer. I was just too tired from what had transpired in the last few hours to stay pissed for longer than a few minutes. That, and I could feel the shape of Caspian's chest against my back as well as the warmth of his body, which overrode pretty much every other system my brain was trying to function. "Yeah, sure, whatever," I said wriggling out of Caspian's grasp before I put my hands in inappropriate places…again. I took his hand, still trying to calm my hormones. "Let's go, ladies' man." When we reached the bottom of the stairs, my parents were in the living room to the left watching _The Sopranos_.

"Food's on the table!" Mom called over her shoulder.

"Puppy, can you come here for a minute please?" my dad added. I stared in at him, open-mouthed and mortified.

"Dad!" I practically sobbed. "Not the nickname."

"This is my house, not public. Get in here, Pup."

I cast a mournful look to the hysterical Dana and Jo and rather amused Caspian. "Just…start without me." My cheeks on fire, I shuffled into the living room while my two cackling best friends led Caspian the opposite way. "What?" I whined, glaring at my father.

He just smirked at me, satisfied with his own parental mortification. Apparently he and mom were keeping score. "Explain, please."

I swallowed, knowing he wanted me to tell him why my "boyfriend" was here in the first place. "He, um, wanted to surprise me. Didn't really think it through though. He was trying to find our house when I hit him." That was pretty good. I was naturally a good liar. It comes with the sociopathic territory. I try not to lie though. It's usually something I only do when I'm really sick, and because I hate the person I become when I'm sick, I avoid those habits as much as possible when I'm in a good place.

"Oh, I see," Dad replied, studying me. "Where are you planning to put him?" The look on his face said "I'm thinking…the attic? Maybe the back yard?"

"Uh, well, I guess Jo and Dana could share one of the guest rooms and he could take the other one?" I suggested. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind sharing. The beds are big enough for two." That was the wrong thing to say, because I could tell from my father's raised eyebrows that his automatic first thought didn't involve two _girls _sharing a bunk. He tensed up, so I tried to give him an innocent smile. "Meaning Dana and Jo can fit comfortably in one bed while I'm safely tucked away in my own room next door." The guest rooms were positioned one at the top of the stairs and then another to the left between the first and my bedroom. That meant if they were next door to me there would be a full bedroom between Caspian and myself. That would just have to be enough to placate my dad's concerns for now.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem entirely enthused with the idea, but what was he going to do? Pull a Hulk Hogan and install security cameras in the bedrooms? Plan a stake out with war paint and a sniper rifle?

I could somehow see him doing the latter. I suppressed a grimace.

"I guess that will have to do," he grumbled. I was starting to think I should've told them Caspian was my gay best friend from New Jersey instead. Maybe my dad would've chilled out.

"Can I go eat now?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure Izzy-Bell," Mom said with a nod. I practically ran across the foyer to the dining room, closing the door behind me with a relieved sigh.

"What was that all about, Puppy?" Jo asked.

"Shut up," I mumbled, too exhausted to be properly annoyed. I slumped down into the seat next to Caspian while Dana played mom, serving everyone. "They wanted to know what he was doing here and where we were gonna put him. You and Dana are sharing a room now, by the way. He'll sleep in the other one." I watched Caspian's expression as he eyed his plate and had to laugh. "It's just pasta. It's good."

He pointed to a meatball. "And that?"

"It's a meatball. Turkey meat. Seriously, it's delicious. My mom's the best cook ever. Just try it."

Hesitantly, he tasted it, his face immediately brightening. "I've never tasted anything like this before!"

"Welcome to Italian-American cuisine, mi amore. Best in the world." I took a bite of my own spaghetti and nodded like I was agreeing with myself. "Oh, and, by the way, just so the story's straight, you were coming to surprise me with a visit and got lost, kay?" Caspian nodded, his mouth full. I giggled at how cute he looked.

"All right," Dana said, her tone strangely ominous. She sat down opposite me and next to Jo and looked back and forth between Caspian and I. Finally, she stopped with her eyes locked on mine and her eyebrows raised expectantly. "Let's talk."

Can't a girl enjoy a meal in peace?

I guess if that girl is me, she doesn't get to enjoy _anything _in peace.


	3. Chapter Three

**Sky-Pirate325, Dean's Leather Jacket, Galasriniel, loveISblind1990, taxibby, LittleSquirt1, Haylee, Pirate Princess Luthein, BritishBabe21, Morning-Sunset, Well-Yeah-There's-That, breebree33, SilverSlippers, SingingInTheRain1989, TDP, you guys are the pwnzorz! Yeah, I'm pretty l33t. Only not really. My brain's at half mast right now, dudes.**

**It is 1:20AM, and I sat down to finish this at 10, deciding I would not rest until it was done and posted! Worship me, bitches! Just kidding. All I want you to do is enjoy the chapter. Lemme know what you think!**

Chapter Three: Stony Limits

"So let me get this straight," Jo said as I took a sip of my Diet Coke, leaning her elbows on the table and giving me a wow-you-really-are-a-psycho stare. "You walked into your closet and fell into a forest in a different world?"

"Yup," I replied after swallowing. "Shuddering Wood, to be exact, in the country of Narnia."

"Okay. Let's pretend for a second that you really did fall through your closet into another world." I rolled my eyes but she ignored it. "How is that possible?"

"I have a theory." I took another swig out of the silver can. "There were these four kids, right? Siblings. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Really swell guys- 'cept Peter. He pissed me off. But anyway, they stayed here like seventy years ago during World War II."

"World War _II_?" Caspian cried.

"Yeah, we've had two. Our world is pretty much shot to hell. But anyway, there was this big old wardrobe and through it was how they got to Narnia the first time."

"It was?" I looked at Caspian, realizing this was news to him as well. He hadn't been around when Ed and I had realized I was from the future…or he was from the past…or something weird like that.

"Yeah, Edmund told me." I looked back across the table to my friends. "Anyway, they came here to get away from the air raids, back when my great uncle or whatever lived here. They got to Narnia and, like, helped defeat this wicked old lady called the White Witch and they became the Kings and Queens of Narnia. After a while they fell back into their own world where almost no time had passed at all. But anyway, that old wardrobe was in my room when we moved in."

"You mean the one you broke?" Dana piped up.

I stared at her. "How do you remember these things?" I shook my head. "Never mind. Yeah, that one. But my dad used the doors to build my closet."

"Oh yeah, makes a really cool effect."

"Uh huh. Then, like, my second night here I can't sleep and I hear this deep voice calling my name from inside the closet and then, being me, I get up, grab my bag, and go in swinging. But there was no floor. I fell like three feet face first into the dirt." I took a bite of pasta, chewed, and swallowed. "So my theory is that there was still a little magic or whatever in those doors, and Aslan utilized it to bring me to Narnia."

"Aslan?" Jo asked, incredulously. "Who's that?"

"The Great Lion," Caspian explained. "He is the highest lord over all the lands."

"And he talks," I added.

"A talking lion…brought you to a different world?" Jo sounded unconvinced.

"Yeah. I know it sounds crazy but it really did happen, I mean," I pointed to Caspian, "Exhibit A: the current King of Narnia."

"Wait, wait, wait," Dana held up both hands. "This guy's a _king_?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Caspian responded defensively. "Would you say the same thing about Isabella?"

"What do you mean?"

"Caspian," I warned, softly. Unfortunately, he wasn't listening.

"Well, in Narnia she is a queen," he pointed out.

"What?" Jo scoffed. "Izzy? A queen?" She looked at me and burst into a fit of giggles. "Sorry, I find that even harder to believe than the whole portal to another world thing."

"Imagine how I felt," I grumbled.

"Isabella is a wonderful queen!" Caspian came to my defense.

"I didn't even do anything, chief. I left the day after our coronation."

"Well, you would have been," he argued.

I sighed. "Whatever."

"Wait, if Izzy's Queen and you're King, does that mean you guys are married or whatever?" Dana asked, eyebrows rising suggestively.

"No!" Caspian and I both shouted at the same time. I noticed his cheeks were as red as mine. Dana smirked.

"Um, in Narnia you don't really have to be married to the other monarch," I explained, embarrassed. "I mean, Susan wasn't exactly married to her brother." I shuddered. "It's bad enough he's her brother." Caspian stifled a laugh. "Don't laugh! I feel legitimately bad for Susan and Lucy. And Edmund for that matter." I shook my head sadly. "Poor kids. Their brother's a total prick."

"You _know_ these kids from seventy years ago?" Jo scoffed.

"Yeah. You see Susan had this horn that was magic and stuff, and when she left it was lost. Somehow Caspian got a hold of it 1300 years later-"

"My professor found it," Caspian clarified.

"Whatever, so he blew it and brought them back to Narnia where, like I said, 1300 years had passed since they'd left even though for them it had only been a year." I paused, looking at Caspian. "How long has it been for you since I left?"

"Three years," he replied. "Three very, very long years."

"Three…oh, wow." I thought of how hard it had been for me, just being away from him for one year, and shuddered at the thought of it having been that much longer. "It's only been…a year for me. Narnia can't make up its mind with how its time relates to ours."

"I don't think it does relate."

I shrugged.

"Could you get back to the explaining please?" Dana interrupted us. She was getting really into it. I wasn't surprised that she was more willing to believe use. She's really into crazy fantasy stuff.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "Anyway, so I fell through my closet into Narnia and I'm freaking out already but then I almost get trampled by a _horse_." I shuddered at the memory of how scared I'd been. "And this…total stranger sees me standing there sobbing and is all," I put on my terrible rendition of Caspian's accent, "Come with me or those men chasing me might kill you!"

Caspian raised his eyebrows at my attempt to sound like him, but didn't say anything about it. He seemed pretty amused by my rendition of the happenings. He had been, of course, the rider that had rescued me.

"Then he picks me right up off the ground and swings me onto the back of the horse like I weight negative three pounds or something and just takes off into the woods. I'm freaking out, basically. Eyes closed, hanging on for dear life, the whole shebang. I was praying so hard to wake up or something. I also prayed that we wouldn't fall off of the horse." I cast a look at Caspian, who suddenly became very interested in the sauce left on his plate. "But of course I don't have any luck at all." He started dragging his fork around the plate, drawing designs in the sauce. "My stranger keeps looking behind him so he ends up taking a tree branch to the face and we fall off the horse."

"Wait, did you just say "_my_ stranger"?" Dana asked. Caspian's eyes immediately moved to my face, which immediately turned red.

"What? No!" I denied. "I mean, did I? Oh, God. Why do I keep saying that out loud?" I groaned.

"You called me your stranger?" Caspian asked, sounding weirdly pleased.

"I…" My eyes moved to his hesitantly. "Yes." He grinned. "It was just until I learned your name and you were never supposed to find out."

Caspian shrugged. "I like it."

I sighed. "You would. Anyway, he gets dragged off into the night by his horse and I run after him until he gets free and while we're sitting there making sure the other person's okay, a door opens out of this tree and these two dwarves come out…" I continued for a long time telling them the entire story, with the occasional interruption (in the form of me clearing the plates and Dana asking questions). I told them all about the creatures I'd met and how I'd met them, then about the four Kings and Queens of Old and how we'd all fought and defeated Caspian's usurping uncle's army with the help of the Narnians and Aslan. While Dana got more and more into the story, Jo seemed to grow more and more skeptical. By the time I got to the end, she had her arms crossed and was leaning back in her chair. "…and then I just walked through the tree-door-thing and wound up right back in my closet, like, two seconds after I'd fallen into Narnia in the first place." I'd left out a lot while telling (i.e. the more heated moments that happened between Caspian and I), but the general gist was the same. Dana, however, seemed to know I'd omitted some details because she was giving me a look that said "I expect you to fill in the blanks later." I guess I already knew I'd have to. The stuff I left out had been more for Caspian's benefit than anything else- I knew he would be uncomfortable with the retelling of personal things like that. But nothing was a secret between my friends and I. They can always tell when I'm lying or not telling the whole truth, not to mention the little fact that we tell each other absolutely everything.

Yeah, they'd expect all the dirty details as soon as we had a second alone. Not that there was anything dirty about my relationship with Caspian, much to my disappointment.

"Wow," Jo said after several moments of tense silence. "Where do you come up with this stuff, Iz?"

"You think I made all of that up?" I scoffed. "Come on, Jo, even _I _couldn't come up with something that elaborate."

"Izzy, you have the most overactive imagination I've ever experienced."

"I don't know about that," Dana said. "Sounds like she's telling the truth to me."

"And if I was lying, why would I be so elaborate about it?" I added.

Jo stared back and forth between Dana and I for a few seconds, then said, "Fine. I guess I believe you."

"Good," I replied. "Now, what the hell time is it? I'm beat."

Dana pulled out her cell phone (temporarily rigged to work outside the US) and slid it open. "Almost eleven."

"Really? How did it get so late?"

She shrugged. "It was the proverbial long story."

"I guess you're right." I yawned.

"You should go to bed, _querida_," Caspian suggested, reaching over to tuck my hair behind my ear so he could see my face better. "You are exhausted." Yep. He doesn't even say "You seem exhausted," it's "You are exhausted." That's because he's ridiculously in tune to me in every way, just as I am to him. I guess it has something to do with the whole soul-sharing business. Or maybe it's just because I yawned. Whatever.

"I think we all should," Dana agreed. She's like the mother hen of the group. I think she gets it from her mom. It's pretty cute, actually, the way she plays protector. I love it.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I replied, flapping my hand lazily. "Whatever you say, Mother." I nodded curtly in Caspian's direction. "Father."

He made a face and mumbled, "No, thank you," which made the rest of us lapse into a fit of giggles. When we finally calmed down, I exchanged glances with the two girls for a moment before we all burst out laughing again, harder this time. Caspian just watched, vaguely amused. Wow, we really were incredibly tired to be acting that way. We tend to get very weird when tired, especially when we're together. I almost died of embarrassment when it got to the point that I was laughing so hard I started to sound like Lois from _Family Guy_. I clamped my hands over my mouth and kept shaking with held-in giggles while Jo and Dana pointed at me and doubled over.

My mom appeared in her pink silk pajamas, peeking her head around the door to the front hall. "What is going _on_ in here?"

"They're, um, very tired," Caspian explained since the rest of us were currently incapacitated.

"Oh, okay," Mom replied, knowing that our strangeness was almost always directly related to how much sleep we'd gotten. She opened the doors up all the way and gave me a stern look. "You can stay up as late as you want any other night but you have your last fencing lesson tomorrow at noon so you can't sleep in until one like you normally do."

After a few more moments of helpless giggling, I was able to reply. "Okey dokey artichokey." Mom just sighed, shaking her head, and disappeared back into the front hall and, presumably, to bed.

"She's right. I have fencing tomorrow." I made a face, even though I enjoyed fencing quite a bit. I was also going to be sparring the next day, which was that much more exciting. I stood up, Dana, Jo, and Caspian mimicking me.

"Fencing?" Caspian asked.

"Yeah, like sword fighting except minus the deadly blades. You'll see." I winked overdramatically while I made my way around the table. He followed, looking interested.

"You've taken up sword fighting?"

"In a sense. Learned quickly too, considering I already had the basics mastered. You know, I learned from the best."

He smirked. "Right." Sarcasm? Really? Wow! Didn't know he had it in him.

I grinned and hip-bumped Jo on my way out into the front hall. "Right," I said firmly. They followed me up the stairs, Dana and Jo grabbing their luggage at the bottom of the stairs as they went. I walked down the left hall a little and threw open a door. "This room is yous guys's." I was too tired to use proper grammar. As they bustled past me into the room, I looked at Caspian. "Wait here. I'm just going to get you something to sleep in." Without waiting for a response, I disappeared into my room and retrieved a pair of my brother's old sweatpants from the same bottom drawer the other clothes had been in. When I'd returned, I handed them to him and lead him back the way we'd come to the door at the top of the stairs. "You can sleep in here. I, uh, figured you could just sleep in the shirt you're wearing since it's relatively clean and you've slept in worse before."

"It's fine," Caspian replied.

"Good." I smiled. "Do you need anything else before I…?" I motioned back towards my room.

"No, just for you to rest, _querida_. I grow more tired just looking at you."

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically, looking away.

Caspian grabbed my chin to make me look at him, ducking his head so his nose was centimeters from mine. My heart sped up, a feeling stirring in the pit of my stomach that had been dormant since I'd left Narnia. His eyes were pitch black in the dim light and burned with a familiar inferno. I half expected him to kiss me. I mean, it had been a whole year since the last time I'd seen him, and I was practically (definitely) starved for his kisses. My lips even parted ever so slightly in anticipation. But he didn't kiss me. Instead, he practically whispered, "_Stony limits cannot hold love out_," and then disappeared into his room. I stood there for a few seconds, a little (a lot) disappointed and pondering the Shakespearian quote. I wondered why he'd chosen that line of all of them to say. With a shrug, I turned and started back towards my room. As I was passing the other guest room, the door suddenly flew open and two pairs of hands grabbed my arm and yanked me inside, the door closing quickly behind me.

"What the _hell _you guys?" I asked after the initial delirium had passed.

Dana, who was already leading me over to their king-sized bed, replied, "You didn't expect us to wait until tomorrow for the dirty details, did you?"

"Yeah," Jo agreed, practically throwing me onto the bed and climbing up beside me. "Prince Charming's out of the way. Time for you to spill."

I sighed, straightening myself out and folding my legs underneath me. "What do you want to know?"

"Um, everything!" Dana gushed in a stage whisper. "How far did you go? Is he a good kisser? What was it like? Where did it happen? When!?"

"And, please, _please_, have mercy," Jo begged, "and tell us what's going on under that Gorillaz T."

I blinked, my brain processing their questions. "O…kay. Uh, we've only kissed, he's amazing, better than you can imagine, several different places, several different times, and…" I paused, giving Jo a reproachful look. "You have a boyfriend."

Jo pouted. "Come on, it's not like Stan doesn't check out other girls! And if not for me, do it for Dana. She hasn't gotten any in forev- Ow!" She didn't finish because Dana had punched her in the arm. Hard.

"He takes care of himself," I said with a sigh. "Let's just leave it at that, okay? I'd like to keep some things sacred, if you don't mind."

Dana joined Jo's pout. "Fine," she whined. "But this "we've only kissed" business…I'm not buying it. You can't tell me you were able to spend all that time around him and restrain yourself from jumping his bones."

I raised my eyebrows and smiled. "It wasn't easy. Seriously. It's not like I didn't try." They both made "ooooooooooooo" sounds and catcalls under their breath. "But he's old school. He said, and I quote, "I will not compromise your reputation." My reputation! Like I care about my reputation when I'm leaving the next morning and don't know if I'll ever see him again." I crossed my arms, disgruntled by the memory.

"He was worried about your _virginity_? Really?" Jo couldn't believe it. "Wow. Any guy around here would jump at the chance to get a girl in bed, and the one you offer yourself to doesn't want to…what is it?" She looked to Dana.

"Um…spoil the goods?" Dana offered.

"Sully your honor!" Jo added.

"Steal your virtue!"

"_Compromise _your reputation!"

"Pop--!"

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, slapping my hand over Dana's mouth. "Do NOT finish that sentence. Seriously, that's enough…" I slowly let go. "And he's not _from_ around here, is he?" I added as an afterthought.

"Oh…right," Jo said, somewhat doubtfully. Whatever. "So what did you do, anyway? Wrap yourself up with a bow on your head and say "Happy Coronation!"?"

"I know!" Dana interjected. "You waited in his bed and called to him." She sat up, reaching an arm out wistfully. "Oh, Caspian, my darling prince!" she called softly, then motioned to her body. "Come and claim your kingdom!" I couldn't help but laugh at the suggestive tone in her voice as she collapsed giggling into the sheets.

"Um, no, it was hardly as melodramatic as that," I replied. "It was more like…" I spaced out, recalling the moonlight falling across his face, the heat of his skin under my fingers, the natural fluidity in the movement of his mouth against mine. I swallowed, hard, and tried to shake the images from my head. But my fingertips seemed to tingle like I'd really just been touching him, my lips… I shook my head again.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Jo snorted.

"N-nothing," I replied. I rubbed my hands against the blankets and chewed on my lower lip, wishing they weren't so good at remembering things. What is it called? Muscle memory? More like nerve-ending memory. Ugh.

Dana was giving me a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just fine." I attempted to laugh it off, but it came out sounding hollow.

"No, you're not," she responded blandly.

"I'm just tired," I lied. I mean, I was tired, but that definitely wasn't my problem at that moment.

Jo sighed. "I guess we can let you go…_for_ _now_."

"Yeah, go get some sleep, girl," Dana added.

"Thanks?" I replied, climbing out of the bed. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Night!"

"Night!" they chorused back. I slipped soundlessly out of their room, closing the door behind me. I started towards my room, but something stopped me. The vivid memories had stirred up an undeniable thirst for Caspian's presence. Leaning against the wall, I closed my eyes, trying to fight away my growing need to be near him. I bit my lip again and rubbed my eyes, trying to reason with myself. I'm tired. I should go to sleep. But somehow, my body's ache for him was stronger than it's lethargy. I bit my thumbnail, looking back down the hall towards Caspian's room. He's probably asleep. I once again tried to convince myself to walk the other way. _No_, some distant part of my subconscious whispered. _No, he's 100 awake._ I gritted my teeth and, with a silent sigh, padded down the hall to his door. I opened it only a little, poking my head in. "Caspian?" I called in a voice that was barely above a whisper. He was standing by the window, and whirled around when I called his name. His face relaxed, though, when he saw it was me. I slipped silently into the room and closed the door softly.

Caspian took a tentative step forward. "You should not be here," he said.

"You're probably right," I answered. "But I…" My lip was really getting its ass kicked by my upper teeth tonight. "I just…needed…I…" He cocked his head to the side, curiously waiting for me to finish my sentence. A tiny bit of moonlight was coming in his window, telling me that it was later than I thought, and also engulfing his figure in an ethereal glow. I sucked in a sharp breath and crossed the room, letting myself melt against him the way I used to berate myself for allowing. Pressing my face into his chest, I clung to his waist almost desperately as he wrapped me in his embrace. My entire body seemed to relax at once, like a group sigh of my every bone, muscle, and vein. I suddenly felt perfectly fine, my ache for a fix placated. That's exactly what it was; a fix. Caspian was like some living, breathing drug to which I was hopelessly, willingly addicted. "I just had to," I whispered, finally. "I can't explain it. I just had to come."

Caspian rested his chin on the top of my head. Had he gotten even taller since I'd last seen him? "Shh, I know," he murmured. "I was actually trying very hard not to go to you when you came in. A wasted effort, it seems." He ran his fingers through my hair and I sighed contentedly. "You know…it makes me think of something Glenstorm said to me about a year after you left."

"Hm?" I prompted.

"I was miserable," Caspian confessed, "and I went to him for council. He told me that time was the only thing that would help, that I would grow used to it. I didn't want to grow used to it, though, I wanted…" He trailed off, his fingers pausing in their trip through my messy curls. "I wanted you back," he finished softly. I thrilled at the words. "Glenstorm dealt with my…tantrums…with much more grace than I deserved. When I had calmed, he told me that there was nothing to be done about it but make the best of the situation. Then he said the strangest thing…" He paused, playing with a strand of my hair thoughtfully.

"What?" I asked after several silent minutes.

"He called you my Matching Soul, and said that your absence was so prominent because our souls had become one and when you left…" He was reluctant to finish the sentence, so I did it for him.

"You were left with only half of it." I leaned back a little to look up at his surprised expression. "I know. Haybra spoke to me about the same thing. Said she read it in the stars." A small smile appeared on my lips. "_Animus Vinculum_."

"Soul Bond," Caspian translated. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought it was ridiculous, actually," I replied. "I didn't even fully believe it until I left, and it felt like I'd been torn in two."

"Wow," he said softly.

"Yeah, pretty bizarre-o, huh?"

Caspian nodded. "But it explains a lot." He smiled. "Like why I was so drawn to you from the first moment I saw you, even though I did not know you at all." A thoughtful expression crossed his face. "And why it meant so much to me to have your attention. Your reactions to my stories made me feel so…I don't know. Pleased?"

"I could tell," I replied. He looked down shyly. "But, honestly, it pleased me that you were pleased." Looking back up, I could see a small smirk on his face.

"That…pleases me."

I laughed and gave him a playful shove. "Caspia-!" I wasn't able to finish saying his name in a scolding manner because at that moment he, not for the first time, surprised me with a kiss. My entire body reacted. My lips parted so I could finally, _finally _taste him again. My legs gave out so he had to hold me tighter to keep me from falling (he has that effect on me). My hands easily found the hem of his T-shirt. His skin was just as warm and smooth as I remembered. I was surprised when he didn't immediately tense and jerk away when he felt my fingers tracing the muscles in his back. I was even more surprised when I felt his hands, big and warm and rough, slip under my tank top and trace spiral designs along my spine. "Oh!" I gasped into his mouth. Caspian's fingertips felt foreign and delightful on my skin, sending an undeniably glorious electric current through my system. His kiss was urgent and fervent, his hands traveling over my back, sides, stomach. I was suddenly pinned between him and the wall without really knowing how we'd gotten there.

I didn't mind, though. I was actually enjoying myself quite a bit. My hands roamed freely over his chest. I felt soft curls under my fingers and could almost taste the venom shooting freely through my veins from the snake curled lazily in the pit of my stomach. Those were definitely new. He _had_ grown some since I'd left Narnia. My hands moved down, traced the "v" of his pelvic bones, traveling dangerously close to the elastic band holding up his sweatpants. I traced the line where his skin disappeared beneath the fabric with my thumb experimentally. A low moan escaped from his lips, and I could've sworn I heard my name mixed in there somewhere. The snake nearly ripped me apart. I'd do anything to hear him make that sound again.

I was contemplating how I could do just that when Caspian suddenly tore himself away from me. He leaned heavily on his hands, pressed against the wall on either side of me. His breathing was hot and sporadic, much the same as mine. His head hung down between his shoulders, but when he finally looked up at me where I was, using the wall as my main support and watching him try to calm down, he looked…ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he breathed as fast as he could. Okay, _so_ not what I expected him to say. "I should not have…I don't know what came over…I lost control of…It has just been so long that…I'm sorry." He hung his head again, shamefully. "I'm sorry."

I tilted my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. "You have got to be kidding me," I mumbled, then, a little louder, repeated myself. "You have _got _to be kidding me." I opened my eyes and gave Caspian a hard push. He stumbled backwards into the bed, which he sat down on, and looked even more ashamed. I wanted to slap him around a little bit for being so stupid, but instead I put my hands on my hips.

"I apologize," he mumbled.

"Yeah? Well apology _not_ excepted." He flinched and looked down at his hands. I realized, as I pulled my shirt down over my stomach, that he thought I was scolding him for being…what was the word he used? Oh yeah, forward. That was definitely not what I was mad about. "Look, you don't just give me the most _amazing_ kissing experience of my life and then apologize for it, okay? It's insulting."

Caspian looked up, clearly confused. "What?"

Still annoyed, I continued. "I _said_ that was the most incredible kiss I've ever had and when you apologize for it I feel like you didn't want to kiss me that way at all!" I crossed my arms. "After you kiss me like that I expect to hear either nothing or "How do you unbutton this thing?" Got it?" He nodded hesitantly, probably afraid that I was going to slap him…again. "Honestly! "I'm sorry for _kissing_ you, Isabella. I'm sorry for putting my hands up your shirt like we both _wanted_ me to, Isabella. I'm sorry for making you want to throw me down on the bed and thoroughly _ravish_ me, Isabella." Stupid Telmarines." By that point I was pretty much glaring at nothing and mumbling to myself, but the astonished look on Caspian's face told me that he heard everything. My first instinct was to be embarrassed, but I fought it off and looked him in the eye. "Yeah, I said it. I want to do unspeakable things to you." All I can say is that I was tired, and therefore my emotions were in total control, and at that point I was more annoyed at him than anything else, so even my embarrassment took a back seat. "What of it?" I half expected him to be appalled by my obviously impure thought process. Isn't it, like, a rule that women had to be totally immaculate before marriage in the old days? Whatever. I didn't get the reaction I expected.

Still looking completely mystified, Caspian softly said, "Come here."

"_What_?" I snapped.

He didn't move. "I said, get over here." Without waiting for an answer, he reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me forward and off balance so I fell into his lap and, surprisingly, into his kiss. He traced my face with his fingers tenderly, and I was too shocked to do anything but let him. My annoyance melted away, as he must've known it would. Only he could do that to me, make me throw aside my anger even if I wanted to stay pissed.

I pouted when he broke away. "That's not fair. Cheater."

"Not everything is a competition, Isabella," Caspian murmured, capturing a stray curl between his fingers. I remembered the first time he'd said that to me, while teaching me to use a sword.

"With you, _everything_ is," I replied defiantly.

Caspian chuckled and, hands on my waist, lifted me bodily from his lap. He stood up and kissed me again, softly. "Go to bed, Isabella. There will be no…_ravishing_ tonight."

I sighed. "You are such a tease."

**P.S. Happy belated birthday, Morning-Sunset! I tried. :(**


	4. Chapter Four

**I am so so so so so so so so sooooooooooo sorry for the wait. I'm having trouble writing lately, which is why this chapter is so short, which I am also sorry for. I, unfortunately, am having a bit of writer's block, so I hope you all can bare with me while I try to think of where to take this. **

**In other news, I might start a **_**Twilight**_** fic for those of you who are interested. Most likely, it will be Jacob/OC. I'm still debating it, though. **

**A thousand thanks to those of you who reviewed.**

**Now, let's boogie!**

Chapter Four: The Sincerest Form of Flattery

_Buzz._

My cell phone's extremely strong vibrations, coupled with its equally as prominent ring tone, were what I had the pleasure of waking up to the next morning. That is, if by "pleasure" you mean "annoyance."

_"I'm not paralyzed, but I seem to be struck by you…"_

What? Sure, it's not the most lyrically in depth song ever written but it has a sick beat and catchy refrain. Sue me!

_"…If your body matches what your eyes can do you'll probably move right through me on my way to you…"_

The music lapsed into the heavy guitar riff and faded to nothing. With a groan, I shoved my hand under my sheets and felt around for the offending piece of technology. It was the same phone I'd had when we moved. I dunno how my father managed, but he somehow rigged us up with an international plan with Verizon. That was why I was still able to use the 200 keyboard equipped phone that I'd saved up for last year (mostly because I'm completely hopeless with texting on the number pad; it takes me five minutes to type one word).

I squinted at the front screen and stifled another annoyed moan by pressing my mouth against my pillow. That little glowing square, I decided, was _so_ unholy.

**NEW TXT MESSAGE FROM: Nathan**

**View Now**

**View Later**

Why, oh why wouldn't he leave me alone?

Let me explain. Nathan was (emphasis on the "was") sort of like my boyfriend back when I lived in New Jersey. I say "sort of" because he never actually asked me to be his girlfriend, and whenever I brought it up he always changed the subject or said something along the lines of, "We've got something great here, baby, let's not put a label to it." And then I, being the fool that I was, would swoon at his apparent concern for our relationship and say, "You got it, dude." Our "relationship," however, consisted mostly of making out on the musty old couch in his basement while Angelina Jolie blew something up on the television screen. So romantic…_not_.

**"****Hey beautiful, you awake yet?"**

Well I am now! I glared at the inside screen of the phone and spitefully hit reply. Did I mention that I've been trying desperately to avoid him at all costs since my return from Narnia? I mean, seriously, he'd treated me like crap, always hanging out (and probably hooking up) with his ex and using me like a booty call (minus the booty; I did have _some _self-respect), only I'd never realized it until I met Caspian and experienced what it was like to be with someone who actually cared about _me_ instead of what was going on under my blouse, last night not withstanding because normally he would have shoved me away as soon as my fingers started groping under his shirt. Caspian is way gentlemanly (_too _gentlemanly, if you ask me), and though I'm sure after last night's snogfest he does have feelings typical to that of a normal, human, hot-blooded male, he doesn't act on them when he can help it. This is to my utter disappointment, because if he did choose to act on those urges I would be all for it. I mean, a girl can't live on romance novels alone, you know what I mean? Not that I read them, but I used to work in a library, and the titles themselves can get pretty graphic…

**"****no,"** was all I typed before I hit the send button. Hopefully he would take a hint, though I doubted it. Nathan wouldn't recognize rejection if it dressed up as Glenstorm and decided to use his head as a soccer ball. After the screen cleared, I saw that it was almost ten o'clock. I sighed, threw back the covers, and padded out of the room in search of a caffeine fix. The TV in the living room was blaring when I got to the bottom of the stairs, but I ignored it and opted for the kitchen, returning moments later with a steaming mug of coffee and an amused expression on my face when I saw the seating arrangements. Dana was curled up in a big fluffy chair, which was normal enough. What made me inwardly giggle was that Jo and Caspian were both sitting on the couch on complete opposite ends, their discomfort obvious. I guess I couldn't really blame them. I mean, Jo probably wouldn't have cared if he'd decided to sit right in her lap (which was an amusing picture in itself), but was wary of Caspian's nerves (and probably my reaction as well). For a king, he really wasn't much for meeting new people. When I'd first met him, the awkwardness could've killed me.

My attention soon moved to the overly loud television, and I couldn't help but exclaim, "What the _hell_ are you watching?"

Needless to say, all three of them jumped in surprised and turned to look at me, suddenly aware of my presence. Caspian visibly relaxed, probably glad that I'd finally showed up to buffer the tension or whatever.

"Good morning, Starshine!" Jo greeted, ignoring my question.

"No, seriously, what the hell are you watching?" I repeated, eyeing the screen, on which Lindsay Lohan was narrating her own life.

"_Mean Girls_!" Dana replied excitedly.

I stared at her dumbly, and then said in a soft voice, "Are you trying to scar him for life?"

"He's fine," Jo whined. "Sit down and shut up. We're watching a movie, here!"

I put my phone on vibrate and dropped it into her lap as I passed her to sit in the middle of the couch. Jo was seated furthest from the screen, Caspian closest. I reclined into the cushions and propped my feet up on the coffee table. "Nathan's texting me. Do as you wish."

"Jackpot!" Jo exclaimed, grabbing my phone from where it landed on her leg. My two best friends disliked Nathan even more than I did because they had seen how much of a jerk he was from the beginning. I didn't listen to them, and so continued to get hurt, which pissed them off even more.

"Who is Nathan?" Caspian asked.

"Nobody important," I replied, taking a sip of my coffee. "Just some creep who won't leave me alone."

Caspian's brow furrowed in that adorable way it does when he's concerned or concentrating. "Perhaps I should speak with him?"

I laughed. "Nah. Don't worry about it. Jo's having a blast." I glanced back at my pale blonde friend. She was typing furiously with an excited glint in her light blue eyes and an evil smile on her lips. Apparently she'd forgotten all about the movie.

"What is _that_?" he asked, his eyes on my phone as Jo snapped it closed triumphantly.

"It's called a cell phone. It's a mobile version of a regular phone. You use it to talk to people. Here." I grabbed my phone from Jo and then the landline cordless from the coffee table as I handed the cellular to him. I typed in my phone number and held it up to my ear. Caspian dropped my phone onto the couch when it started vibrating and looked at me with a startled expression. Gosh, he was so cute. "It's okay," I laughed. "Pick it up and press the green button." He did as I said and then just stared at it in his palm.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Hold it up to your ear, Einstein," Jo said. I shot her a glare but she just looked at me innocently like she didn't do anything.

Caspian, oblivious to the insult because he obviously had no clue who Einstein was, did as he was told.

"Hey, Caspian, what's up? How're things on the other end of the couch?" I said into the receiver I held to my ear.

Caspian's eyes got real big and he stared at me. "Um, fine."

"That's awesome. I'm sorry my friends subjected you to Lindsay Lohan for the past hour. Rachel McAdams makes up for it, though."

He just stared at me, then lowered my cell phone and stared at that instead. "Amazing," he mumbled.

I hung up the house phone and tossed it onto the table. "Just like magic, huh?"

"I suppose." My phone vibrated again and Caspian hesitantly pressed the "OK" button, then blinked down at the screen. His eyebrows shot up as he handed it to me. "I am not so sure I like this Nathan person." Looking down at the screen, I could understand his reaction.

**"****But, baby, I don't understand. Why are you talking like that? You know I love you, right? Don't you love me too? Don't you miss me?"**

I groaned and gave the screen a nasty look as if it was my phone's fault that Nathan was refusing to give up. Apparently, he's one of those guys who only wants what he can't have and _never _wants what he can have. Thus, as soon as my interest in him disappeared, _his_ interest in _me_ flourished. Unfortunately. "What a load of bull. All he misses is putting his hand up my shirt."

"Excuse me?" Caspian asked coldly. I looked up at his narrowed eyes and realized the implications of what I'd just said. In the corner of my eye I saw Dana hold her thumb against her ear with her pinky pointing towards her mouth and the other three fingers curled, pretending her hand was a phone like little kids playing house always do.

"Shit, I gotta go, it's on," she said to no one, quoting Dane Cook. My cheeks, I knew, were bright red.

"Shut up!" I snapped at her, then turned back to Caspian, who was waiting for an explanation. "What I meant was, he misses _trying_ to put his hand up my shirt. I never actually let him."

"But he kept trying," Jo commented.

"And trying," Dana continued.

"And then trying some more…"

"Do you _want_ me to go Sweeney Todd on you, or are you finished now?" I interrupted.

Dana smiled. "We're finished."

"But _you're_ not," Jo added, looking pointedly over my shoulder.

I looked back at Caspian, who looked even more annoyed, an expression on his face that I hadn't seen since…well, since the time we'd argued in the woods because I'd tricked a Telmarine guard via kissing him. I figured I'd better try to defuse the situation.

"That was before I met you, Caspian," I tried to explain. "I haven't even seen him in a year. I've tried everything but he just won't get it through his thick skull that I'm not interested anymore. He's, like, meaningless. I was just warm for his form, that's all. Not anymore, though…"

Caspian's eyebrows rose and his face softened. Shaking his head exasperatedly, he said, "I am not upset with _you_, _querida_. I am angry with this…_Nathan_ for…for…" He spat the name like it was poisonous to even say, then trailed off like he wasn't sure how to express what, exactly, Nathan did.

"…Compromising her reputation?" Jo offered. My head snapped around and I just stared at her, shocked. I could not believe she just said that. "What?" She blinked.

Luckily, Caspian was too busy fuming and muttering to himself in Spanish or whatever (I still didn't know exactly what language he spoke; it was apparently some grand mixture of, like, everything) under his breath to hear her. "I cannot believe he disrespected you in such a way." I heaved a sigh of relief and patted him on the arm awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. That's all in the past now." I forced a smile that, from the look on his face, he wasn't buying for a second. "Seriously. It's all hunky dory. You know, cool as the other side of the pillow. I gave him the boot a long time ago. You use me, you lose me. That's my motto! Haha!" Dana decided we were no longer interesting enough to hold her attention and returned to watching Lindsay Lohan ruin people's lives, Jo stared at me like I had five heads, and Caspian shook his head.

"You are lying," he said, "but I'll let it go for now."

Ew. What the hell? Okay, so maybe I was lying. Maybe I wasn't perfectly okay. Maybe I was a little wounded by the whole Nathan using me just for kicks thing. And maybe sometimes I was tempted to talk to him civilly and perhaps flirt a little bit. I mean, three years of major crushing doesn't just go away, you know? Plus, asshole or not, Nathan was still a major hottie, even if he looked kind of like Peter Pevensie. Luckily for me, neither Peter nor Nathan could hold a candle to Caspian in that respect. If the dark almond-shaped eyes, strong jaw, and defined cheekbones aren't enough to convince you of his superior sex appeal, the silky brown hair and delicious burnt caramel skin should finish the job. Also, Caspian wasn't a womanizing prick like Nathan or a stubborn jerk with ego issues like Peter. What more could a girl want? But I digress.

"Sweet," I answered weakly, giving him two thumbs up.

"But if I ever meet him," Caspian continued, giving me a crooked smirk and cocked eyebrow that stole even Dana's attention away from the TV screen, "I cannot promise you that I won't kill him." Distracted by the way his charmingly devilish expression made me want to throw him down on the coffee table and have my way with him right then and there in front of Dana and Jo, it took me a moment to process what he'd said.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure, whatever." As terrible as it may be, I didn't really care what he did to Nathan. I guess I would stop him if it looked like it was leaning towards the fatal side, but that was just because I didn't want Caspian getting thrown in jail for murder. Otherwise, Nathan probably deserved to get his pretty little face punched in. Or sliced off, depending on Caspian's preferred method of torture. "You won't meet him. He's across a whole ocean." I waved vaguely in a direction that probably wasn't towards the Atlantic Ocean at all. "So don't worry about it." I smiled sheepishly and looked down at my phone, hitting a button to light up the screen again. With swift, well-trained thumbs, I quickly typed up a reply.

**"****you're so full of shit."**

Smiling, satisfied, I sent the message and then promptly turned my phone off and tossed it onto the table. "Ten bucks says I have three messages from him when I turn it back on."

"Twenty says it's five," Jo challenged. I made a face that expressed my deep displeasure. "I remember when you would've squealed with delight at that idea."

"That was a very dark era," I said cryptically. "I don't even want to think about him anymore, thanks." Then, as if to prove I meant it, I turned and kissed Caspian right on his smirking lips. It surprised both of us. He flushed visibly and I hid my own blush by burying my face in his hair as both Dana and Jo made various noises and catcalls. Caspian awkwardly put his arm around my waist, obviously startled by the sudden display of affection. I don't know why, but out of nowhere I just wanted to touch him, be near him, feel his warmth. Maybe I was trying to counteract the little piece of me that still wanted to talk to Nathan, the tiny sliver of my heart that he'd broken. Or maybe it had something to do with how Caspian made me feel totally at ease whenever necessary. All I needed to do was reach out and touch him and I'd be filled with instant relief. Once again, I reminded myself of junky.

Is there a rehab for this? Caspian Addicts Anonymous, perhaps?

That might not be good. I think I'd have a fit if I found out anyone else reacted to my Caspian the way I did. There would also be a chance of bloodshed.

"Breakfast is ready." My mother's voice caused us to jump apart. I swiveled to look at her. She was watching me with amused interest, her eyebrows raised; an expression that told me she'd been standing there for longer than I was happy with.

"Uh, cool," I replied. "What's on the menu?"

"Pancakes," Mom said simply.

"Yum." I jumped to my feet a little too enthusiastically. "I love pancakes!" I seized Caspian's hand and then Jo's and yanked them both to their feet. "Let's go eat some pancakes you guys!"

Pancakes were yet another delicacy that Caspian had never had the pleasure of consuming before. The look on his face when he tasted them was priceless.

"So," Dana said as she busied herself with pricking her finger to test her blood sugar. Being a diabetic since she was sixteen months old, she could check her numbers with her eyes closed. "How did you wind up here, anyway?"

Caspian, who was watching her with vague interest, looked up from the little machine in her hands when he realized she was talking to him. "Pardon?"

Dana's eyes were on the screen. "Crap…" she murmured and stuffed everything back into the little bag with a design of different candies on it (she just loves being ironic) that held all of her diabetes paraphernalia. "I mean how did you get to our world." She looked back up at him and shoveled a large bite of pancakes into her mouth. I guess her blood sugar levels were low.

"Oh," Caspian replied, his curious expression turning to one of frustration. "I…don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Jo asked.

"I think he means he doesn't know," I answered sarcastically.

"Well, there was a bad storm," he continued as if he hadn't heard us, "and a large wave swept me overboard."

"Overboard? You were on a boat?" Dana spoke through a mouthful of food. I flicked a napkin at her.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," I complained.

"A ship, actually," Caspian replied. "The _Dawn Treader_. When the wave took me down, instead of landing in the sea I somehow landed in the mud."

"Freaky." I took a gulp of milk and chewed my lip thoughtfully. "But it was lucky you wound up landing in front of me. I can't imagine how anyone else would've reacted to the crazy man in chain mail."

Caspian smiled. "Yes, well, I am not so sure it was just luck." We all stared, waiting for him to clarify. "What I mean is, during the storm it looked as if the ship was not going to make it through. Naturally, we all thought it was the end for us." He looked at me with an expression so intense it made me blush. "All I could think about was how I wished I could see you one last time before I died." My forked clattered to my plate of it's own volition and a short silence followed his declaration. Dana and Jo exchanged a look, then smirked.

"Awwwww," they chorused.

I glared at them. "Shut up." My eyes moved back to Caspian, who still looked quite serious. "That's…pretty stupid. I'm sure you have much more important things you should've been worrying about."

He shook his head and sighed. "No, _querida_, you _are_ my most important thing."

Dana and Jo let out another chorus of noises to express how adorable they apparently found us. I balled up my napkin and launched it across the table. "You two are so obnoxious."

My mother appeared in the doorway, looking anxious. "Izza-bunny, you know you only have an hour until fencing, right?"

I gaped at her. "What? Oh, shit, I forgot all about fencing."

"Watch your mouth or I'll smack it. Just hurry up." She disappeared before I could volley back with a sarcastic comment.

Annoyed, I stabbed my fork into my pancakes, then yelled, "I'm gonna need the Forester!" I looked around the table. "Sorry, but you guys are going to have to come and watch me and a bunch of other angsty teenagers hack away at each other with metal rods."

Jo clapped. "Goody!"

Dana grinned. "Can't wait."

Caspian looked confused. "What is a Forester?"

The rest of us laughed.

"No, really."

**In addition to my apologies at the top of the page, I would also like to apologize for the fact that this chapter wasn't interesting at all. I feel like such a dud. I don't deserve such wonderful fans such as yourselves. I need to get my act together. Blah.**


	5. The Dreaded Author's Note of DOOM

**Author's Note:**

I really, REALLY hate to do this to you all, as many of you have been loyal reviewers through both _Dreams_ and this story, and it seems I've gained new awesome fans as well, but I have to put this on hiatus.

I'm so sorry. Seriously. It's painful for me, but I'm having a dry spell with ideas at the moment and my school life has gotten about 95 more demanding this year. I mean, just this weekend I've got a philosophical paper to write, a Canterbury Tale to memorize, lines to study (I got a part in the school play!), and who knows what I'll be assigned tomorrow. Not to mention I work 4-7 two days a week and play rehearsals go until 5:30 every other day. And my weekends have recently been spent doing homework and simultaneously spending as much time with my friends as possible, since they graduated last year and I don't see them every day.

Oh, and I've got the PSATs to worry about this Saturday in addition to all that. Gahhhh.

Anyway, my main reason for putting up this A/N is to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about you! I just have no time or good ideas right now, and I don't want to write a half-assed story that doesn't do the characters (or you!) any justice.

And so, I hereby officially declare _Eclipse of the Stars_ to be on hiatus until I am hit by some amazing inspiration _and_ actually have the time to sit down and write.

I promise that once I know I can write something worth reading, it will be a long and awesome chapter. I WILL make a comeback. I just don't know when. :(

Love and apologies,

Gina


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